The Band: Facing Your Fears
by Sovereign64
Summary: (Credit goes to Crimson-Tuna-Sub) A fanworked version of chapter 15 "Facing Your Fears" of my story The Band.


**Sovereign: This is a fan-work/rewritten version of chapter 15 _"Facing Your Fears"_ from my story _The Band_ , written by Crimson-Tuna-Sub. I want to thank him for writing this because I was never happy with the original version of chapter 15 of my story so he wanted to write his own version of the chapter and I gave him full permission. He uploaded it on his Deviantart afterwards and I absolutely loved it. I felt it was much better than the original version and I wanted everybody who enjoyed _The Band_ to read it as well.**

 **I asked him if he can allow me to post his fanworked version onto Fanfiction. He is delighted and gave me permission to do so. So here it is everyone, the fanworked/rewritten version of chapter 15 of my story The Band. I hope all of you enjoy.**

 **DISCLAIMER: This chapter is modified/rewritten by _Crimson-Tuna-Sub_. All credit goes to him.**

 **The Band Chapter 15 Fan-Work Rewritten**

 _ **Chapter 15: Facing Your Fears**_

The three girls gasp and Yuri nods his head. He gestures them to sit on the couch. The three obliged and sit down while Yuri stood in front of them.

"Long time ago in middle school, I made friends with a guy named Zagi…and meeting him is the biggest regret in my whole life". Yuri frowned. "All because of him, I became a good-for-nothing delinquent. I was constantly getting into trouble with my parents and my teachers. We even stole things together and vandalized public property. Everything I know about theft, vandalism, assault…anything short of murder was all taught to me by him. But..he had one secret he hid from me, which was the fact that he was a drug addict. He loved nothing more than buying marijuana with the money he stole and he got so addicted to the point that he ran his pockets dry from buying so much marijuana. He considered stealing money again but he didn't want to risk getting caught by the police again. So one day, he resorts to borrowing money from loan sharks."

"Man…" Rita said, folding her arms. "You really have one screwed up ex-friend"

"Rita." Estelle firmly replied, glaring at her friend. "This is serious"

"If it is alright that I ask you this but, how was he associated with the fate of your father?" Judith asked.

"Well, he borrowed a lot of money from the loan sharks and unsurprisingly he spent all the money away in little time. Then he realised that he doesn't have the money to pay back to the loan sharks. But to my complete utter shock, he didn't give them his phone number and address."

Yuri's eyes grew cold for a moment.

"He gave them mine"

The three girls stared in shock at this turn of events, Yuri however continued his story.

"One day, I was walking back from school. Two of them showed up and tried to beat me up, however I managed to fight back against them. I continued walking my way home afterwards but when I arrived, I saw my father…. having a seizure". Yuri took a hard gulp, trying to gain back his composure before continuing the story. "I told him that I will quickly go out and call for help, but as soon as I stepped out of the house…six more loan sharks showed up and this time…they beat the crap out of me."

The three girls gasped again and looked at Yuri in utter shock.

"Thankfully, the neighbours saw this and called the cops. The loan sharks quickly fled but I've heard that all six of them have been caught and arrested by the police and was charged for their crimes. But…because I was badly bashed up…I couldn't get medical help in time...and because of me…"

Yuri lowered his head as his eyes grew cold, barely being able to hold back his tears

"My father died from his seizure…and it's all because of me…ever being associated with Zagi. Now he has come back into my life. Recently he showed up, demanding money from me, about ten thousand dollars and if I don't…he and his gang will come after all of you."

Yuri had then closed his eyes and tried to hold back any of the tears which were welling up. Estelle, Rita and Judith remained silent, trying to comprehend what they have heard from Yuri. Everything he had told them was dark and shocking to them, especially since his "friend" knows who they all are and that they would come after them if he doesn't pay his debt.

Estelle holds her breath for a moment. She does feel scared of Yuri's current situation, especially since Zagi knows who she, Rita and Judith are. If she walks out of here right now, pretending she is unaware of Yuri's situation, her life will not be in danger. But Zagi already knows who she is anyway so is she really safe? Also is she really going to abandon Yuri and let him suffer under Zagi's torment all by himself?

 _No_. She shakes her head from such selfish thoughts. She cannot leave this room. Yuri is her friend. And there is absolutely nothing that's going to change her mind to not help him in his time of need.

She eventually sighed compassionately and looks up at Yuri with a determined frown. "Yuri…' she uttered.

Yuri opens his eyes and looks up at Estelle. Estelle notices fresh tears forming in his eyes. "Yuri…don't be sad…"

"How can I not be sad?" Yuri cried. "I just wish that I could turn back time! I wish that I never met Zagi in the first place, that my father was still alive and that my family were all living together! But that's just a stupid wish. I can and never will be able to change my fate!"

"Then worry less about the past and move forward to the future!"

This scolding came from Rita, getting up from the couch with her fists clenched tightly. Yuri looks up at her with his eyes wide from shock.

"You think that you're the only person in the world who has problems?! I have problems too! But I overcome them!"

Rita paused for a moment to calm down and catch her breath. "And do you really think your father would want to see you drowning in sorrow and causing trouble in school if he was alive right now? I'm sure he wouldn't, now would he?!"

Judith nods her head in agreement and gets up from the couch. "And remember, you still have your mother, Flynn, Darren…and you also still have us. For the past half a year, we have created a bond that cannot be broken."

Estelle smirks as she gets up as well. "Yuri…whatever problems you have, we will help you! We will always remain at your side no matter what because you're a part of our lives now!"

"I don't care what that Zagi creep were to do to us." Rita added. "I ain't going to allow some psychopathic creep with messed up hair who hides behind his bodyguard friends to control our friend Yuri around like his personal slave."

Estelle walks over to Yuri and extends her hand towards him. "Yuri…let us help you."

Yuri didn't notice tears were flooding down his cheeks until he felt them splashing onto his shirt. After staring at Estelle's hand for a moment, he took a hard gulp and wipes off his tears. He looks up and manages a smile.

"Thank you…all of you." He nods his head. "I am very lucky to have you three as my friends." He grabs Estelle's hand and a huge smile appears on the girl's face.

"It's good to have you back Yuri." Estelle said.

"Awesome!" Judith cheered, pumping her right fist into the air.

"Geez." Rita chuckled as she places her hands at the sides of her hip and tilts it. "It's ironic that we are now helping the guy who helps all of us out." Rita turns to Judith and nods her head in agreement.

"Don't worry Yuri." Estelle smirks. "We'll find a way to teach Zagi a lesson."

The four of them walk out of the music room and down the stairs. The place is eerily quiet and they can hear their footsteps echoing the empty hallways.

The four head their way to the school entrance. They arrive at the big pair of doors and Yuri opens them. When he opens them, he and his friends see Zagi, his two large "henchmen" and a thin man wearing a white cap whom Yuri never seen before, standing at the distance. The four of them have been waiting outside for them the whole time.

Yuri narrows his eyes and clenches his fists. Estelle places her hand on his shoulder and she gestures Yuri to keep calm despite the pressure given off from Zagis gang. Yuri turns to Estelle and nods his head. Yuri turns back to the front and the four muster up the courage as they calmly walk their way towards Zagi and his gang.

"Heh." Zagi snorted as he gestures to his cap-wearing thug. "My informant here had told me that he saw your brunette friend coming over to your home to convince you to spill the beans to your pals about our lil' agreement. I knew you would disobey me and tell your friends about your problems anyway".

"No way in hell will I ever obey you." Yuri icily snaps back to him.

"You must be Zagi." Estelle says to Zagi, glaring at him as she spoke. "I don't care how dangerous you are. We are not afraid of you."

"Yeah! If you mess with Yuri, you mess with all of us!" Rita yelled intimidatingly as she slams her fists together.

Zagi bursts out in a maniac fit of laughter as he slaps his forehead. His three gang members join in with his fit of laughter, chiming like hyenas but Zagi quickly gestures them to shut up. Zagi looks back at the four band members and smirks maliciously. "Well Yuri, now that you told your pals on me, you gotta pay the price."

"And what would that be?" Yuri coldly asked, glaring daggers at his ex-friend. Zagi snaps his fingers and Yuri and his friends turn their heads at the gate where they see two people approaching dragging something…or in this case someone in the middle of them. They all widen their eyes in shock and horror as two more thugs show up. Both of them having dishevelled hair with their clothing creased and lightly powdered with dirt and streaks of blood, one of them with a light stream of dried up blood down the sides of his mouth and blood dripping down from his nose while the other has a fresh black eye, bruised cheek and a tooth missing. The two thugs appear to both be walking with a slight limp.

"Stop fighting back and get over here!" one of the newly arrived thugs could be heard barking as they approach, carrying Flynn by his arms, badly beaten. Although the three of them appear to be dishevelled and beaten, Flynn appears to be the one on the receiving end of the fight. His shirt collar has been unbuttoned, his left cheek and right eye bruised and his shirt covered in dirt.

"FLYNN!" Estelle cried in horror. Rita, Judith and Yuri gasp with terrified looks.

"Keh." One of the thugs holding Flynn snorts. "This little brat put up a fight against us thinking he can beat up adults. He did make us struggle quite a bit though…making us ruin our expensive clothes with dirt and our own blood…However in the end looks like he should finish school before thinking he can fight _**adult men.**_

Flynn groans as he looks up at his friends. "Guys…" He moaned. Zagi gestures the two to release Flynn and they drop the blonde onto the ground with a thud.

Flynn tried to get up but one of them pin him down by putting their foot onto his head.

"Please! Stop! This is too far!" Yuri cried as he extends his hand.

Suddenly, Zagi speaks up. "If you want to save your 'buddy', you will let us beat you up till you bleed." Estelle and Judith quickly grab Yuri by his arms protectively.

"No! We won't let you!" Estelle cried.

"I will never let you harm out friends any further!" Judith added. Rita steps in front of the three.

"You gotta go through me first, bastard!" Rita growled, now looking extremely livid.

"No."

The three girls gasp as they turn to Yuri. "Guys, I brought this all on you. Because of me, Flynn has been caught and beaten up. I deserve the punishment. It all started with me, let me finish this myself for all the things I have done to make you guys suffer." Yuri said in defeat.

"Yuri…" Judith said, looking shocked.

Zagi cackled maliciously. "Good boy Yuri!" He snaps his fingers and his two men walk up to Yuri.

"Yuri…no!" Flynn cried.

One of the men pushes Rita aside while the other grabs Judith by her arm. "No! I'm not letting go! She yelled but eventually, the man proves too strong for her. The man pushes Judith aside and she releases her grip from Yuri. The other man also pushes Estelle aside and she falls to the ground.

Estelle looks back up and cried in horror, "No! Don't do this!"

Rita growls angrily as she tried to get up and stop the two men, but the informant runs from Zagis side up to Rita and grabs her by both arms from behind. Rita attempts to break free but couldn't. "Get away from me!" She yells at the informant angrily. "LET GO! STOP IT!"

Judith gets grabbed by one of the gang members near Flynn and she is forced to watch Yuri being beaten helplessly. Tears quickly flood in her eyes. "Yuri! NOOOO!"

"I'm sorry…everyone" Yuri said grimly as he weakly smiles back at everyone to reassure them that everything will be ok. He lets the two men grab his arms and Zagi approaches him. Suddenly he stops in front of Judith as he stares at her, eyes full of lust as she is held back by one of his henchmen, glaring daggers at him.

"Man you look stunning…I'll deal with you later after I'm finished with my 'friend' over here." Zagi lustfully says to Judith.

"I don't care what happens to me but you will regret it if you hurt Yuri!" Judith harshly replies to Zagi, glaring at him as he cackles maliciously in response.

Zagi then walks up to Yuri and slaps him at his left cheek and evilly smiles at him.

"I don't give a shit about what happens to you or any of your friends. In fact…" Zagi whispers coldly into Yuri's ear. " _Nobody's_ ever gonna care about you, little shit."

Yuri hangs his head in defeat, knowing that Zagi told him the honest truth. Nobody is going to care about his ultimate fate. He closes his eyes tightly, preparing what's going to happen to him.

"YURI!" Flynn shouted in despair. But sadly, all he could do is stay where he is.

"YURRRRRIIII!" Estelle shouted, extending out her hand. Tears pour down her cheeks. She realized that there is absolutely nothing they could do to stop Yuri's torment. "NOOOOO!"

Zagi cackled as he knows he's going to love every second of Yuri's torture. "Get ready boys! There's going to be an execution!" He pulls back his fist ready to-

 _SNAP!_

Zagi halted in mid-punch and turns his head when he heard the sound of someone being slammed on the back of his head along with the sound of something snapping in half. Zagi and his men widen their eyes in shock as the man who was pinning Flynn down suddenly collapses and crashes onto the ground with a heavy thud. Yuri opens his eyes and widens his eyes in shock at his saviour. The girls look up and froze in shock as well.

"It's…" Yuri manages to say.

"DARREN!" Judith cried

Darren tosses his split plank of wood aside which snapped from the impact of hitting the thugs head who was holding down Flynn and helps Flynn up from the ground.

"Mr. President…" Flynn uttered. Darren gently pushes Flynn aside as he slowly walks up to Zagi and his men, approaching them with a menacing aura, fists clenched tightly and fire burning in his eyes

" **Nobody here is going to hurt my friends!"** Darren shouts in anger determined to protect his friends

Zagi turns to his men and yells, "Don't just stand there! Attack!"

His man who was grabbing hold of Judith growls as he releases her and goes up to Darren. He charges towards Darren and swings his fist at him. Darren blocks his hook by sticking his arm up to intercept the strike, then follows up with a punch in the stomach. The blow causing the man to bend forward in pain which Darren then follows up with a knee to the stomach then pushing him away with a front kick with the same leg, sending him sprawling to the ground.

The informant releases Rita and goes after Darren next. He runs over to Darren and swings his fist at him. Although he succeeded in delivering a blow to the Student Council Presidents cheek as well as bruising his cheek, Darren didn't show any emotional signs of pain as well as the informant stumbling after the punch and slightly losing his balance. Darren exploits this by punching him at the back of the head, causing his to lose his balance further which was then followed by a sweeping kick to the shins causing the informant to fall onto the ground head first injuring his head as well as the front of his legs.

Zagi, now looking extremely terrified quickly hides behind the two men who are holding Yuri.

"After him!" Zagi ordered to them. The two men release Yuri, who falls on his knees and goes over to Darren at the same time. While all of this is going on, Yuri, Estelle, Flynn, Rita and Judith are watching this in both shock and amusement.

One man pulls a front kick at Darren and hits him straight in the stomach. The man smirks as he sneers in arrogance as Darren loses his breath from the blow to the gut.

"Not so tough now council-boy?" Zagis henchman gloats at Darren who is leaning forward over the man's leg from the kick to the stomach.

"I think you should be saying that after you win the war, not the battle", Darren quietly muttered.

Darren then puts the man off-guard as during this "conversation", he had been gradually angling his body so that the thugs foot is only grazing his stomach as opposed to before where it was smashed into his stomach. He then follows up by grabbing the thugs leg and pulling the him in towards him and punches him square in the nose, then trips him over by sweeping the thugs other leg, causing him to fall onto the ground.

However, as the other thug who was holding Yuri ambushes Darren from behind, the thug who got swept grabbed Darren's ankle as he fell, causing Darren to nearly trip forwards. This allowed the second man to wrap Darren around his body and arms when his guard was down, stopping him and effectively bear-hugging him from behind.

"PUNCH HIM! NOW!" Zagi yelled.

Yuri could only stare in horror as Darren was being held down by the very thugs that were about to beat him up. Zagi cackled in malice and amusement as he watched his henchmen pummel Darren.

 _THWACK!_

Darren just angrily stared back at them as blood trickled down from his mouth.

 _SMACK!_

"Hahaha! Guys don't beat him too hard. Don't want him to pass out before I get a turn" Zagi exclaims in amusement as he began walking towards his two men who were restraining and beating Darren

As he watched in horror Yuri began to remember everything from the past year:

 _Meeting Flynn who turned his life around for the better…. Joining the band just to get extra points for being in an ECA…. Going out shopping to buy a new guitar…All the hard worked rehearsals together with the other members of the band. Having fun at the snow with his friends and even with the Student Council President along with proving that he had shed his former self of delinquency and now a new person. Most importantly, making the best friends a person can ask for_.

 _THUMP!_

However, if he doesn't do something now, everything that he achieved in his new life along with all the new friends he has made…will all be gone because of Zagi….

 _It's now or never_. Yuri mustered up the courage as he clenched his fists and teeth as he walked, which turned into a sprint as he dashed towards the very men who he feared just a few days ago. As Darren was about to execute a counterattack at the thug pummelling him, he stared in surprise as he saw Yuri sprinting towards him ready to free him as well as get back at the people who beat him the other day. He let out a roar towards the men and Zagi.

" **ZAGI! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE MY FRIENDS AWAY FROM ME!"**

Zagi's expression of amusement quickly turned to one of complete and utter horror as Yuri ran towards the man restraining Darren from behind and grabbed him by the shoulder, swinging him around where the thug was greeted with Yuri delivering a powerful blow to the side of his head so hard, the man collapsed with a heavy thud. His eyes were rolled back and appeared all white as he lost consciousness from Yuri's punch. The Student Council President was harmlessly dropped onto the ground.

The last thug standing who was about to deliver a straight punch to the previously restrained Darren instead decided to go with a kick to the President who was currently lying on the ground due to being dropped by his captor and recovering from the pummelling.

"President, Look out!" Flynn yelled as he despite his beating sprints towards Darren and the thug who was about to kick Darren who was on the ground. Flynn then punches the man straight in the nose breaking it for a second time, causing him to stagger backwards.

"That was for Yuri!"

The thug however quickly recovers and roughly shoves the worn out Flynn down to the ground and about to finish him off by slamming his foot onto his head.

"Why you little brat!" he yells as he is lifts his foot into the air ready to stomp Flynn's head.

Before Flynn was about to have his head kicked into, Darren who was still on the ground from behind ran up to Flynn's aggressor and scissor kicks him between the legs, causing him to fall flat on his face which was then followed by a chop to the back of his head into the ground effectively breaking his nose for the third time.

The aggressor who was the second assailant of Flynn's beating gets back up, having recovered from his previous beating attempts to headlock him from behind, only for Darren to react with a swift kick into his crotch. The man gave an extremely high-pitched yelp, causing Yuri, Estelle, Flynn, Judith, Rita and Zagi to cringe at the man making a noise very un-befitting of his tough exterior.

"Time to shut this man up" Yuri exclaimed as he finishes him off with a strike at the back of his head, causing the man to fall over to the ground like a bag of cement.

Darren and Yuri both watch with a sense of grim satisfaction as their last opponent falls to the ground. Darren then turns around and goes over to Zagi who is standing behind Yuri terrified.

"Yuri, please" Zagi begged, breathing heavily. "Stop him!"

Yuri smirks devilishly as he turns to Zagi who is cowering behind him, "Hmmm, what was that you said to me before? Oh I remember now, you said you didn't care what happened to me! So why should I care about you?" Yuri then gives Zagi a hard shove with only one hand causing him to fall to the ground as Zagi stared back at Yuri with his eyes as wide as dinner plates in shock before turning back to Darren who is approaching. He struggles to get up as he hastily runs over to the school doors for refuge as Darren chases after him.

"HEEEEEEEELLLLPPP MEEEEEEE!" Zagi screamed. He arrives at the school doors and tries to open them but they didn't budge no matter how hard he pulled at the doors.

"IT WON'T OPEN!" Zagi yells. He turns to run elsewhere only for Darren to mercilessly grab him by the collar of his jacket and pinning him onto the school doors.

"They say if you want to obtain something you have to give something of equal value in return" Darren coldly whispers into Zagis ear. Then Darren's voice distorted to one of a darker, almost demonic tone **"Now let's see you pay back everything you took from Yuri with your life!"** Darren yelled. He then tosses Zagi onto the ground, sending him rolling over. Zagi tries to get up but unfortunately Darren runs over and kicks him at the cheek, sending him rolling over a few more times. Zagi's rolling eventually comes to a stop when he felt the blow of someone's foot go into his stomach

Zagi eventually finds himself lying in a fetal position, coughing blood before he sees Darren and Yuri standing above him.

"Darren, do what you need to do with him" was all that Yuri said as he roughly grabbed Zagi up on his feet and held his arms behind his back

"H-hey…p-please…Yuri HELP! I w-was only following orders! T-they made me do all this" Zagi pleaded to Yuri.

"Doubt it Zagi, even if they did don't take it out on me, take it out on those who gave you the orders." Yuri snorted. "Besides, I'm doing exactly what you did to me a few days ago"

Darren walks up to Zagi who is being held up by Yuri, jabbing his knee into Zagi's stomach as he grabs him by the collar and pulls him up in front of his face.

"P-please…have m-mercy on me!" Zagi desperately wailed, shivering with fear.

"Can I ask you something?" Darren asked, narrowing his eyes. "How many times have you heard those words and ignore them? Why should I have mercy on you when you got **MY FRIENDS beaten black and blue without a second thought! Now time for you to get what's coming to you!"**

Zagi gasps and his eyes widen from shock and horror as Darren clenches his fist and pulls it back ready to finish him off. But suddenly, two voices interrupted.

"Darren!"

"Yuri!"

Darren and Yuri both turn to see Judith and Estelle staring at them, looking at them with deep concern.

"Darren, It's okay, we are all fine now. He didn't do anything to us. There is no need to beat him up anymore." Judith said. "Please…calm down."

"Yuri, you're better than this, if you pummel him further than you will be no better than he is." Estelle added. "Everything's alright now"

Darren and Yuri both see Rita and Flynn, now standing properly on both feet standing behind Judith and Estelle, all looking at the two of them, wanting them to stop their vengeance on Zagi.

Darren lets out a sigh as Yuri drops Zagi to the ground with a light thud. Darren then turns back to Zagi and glares at him then said coldly, "I'm letting you go, it's not that you're not worth it but it's outright morally incorrect to **beat up defenceless individuals** ".

Zagi stands up and sighs heavily in relief and arrogantly huffs as if nothing happened despite his men all severely injured and proceeds to leave believing that since he was let off he can continue his criminal activity elsewhere. But suddenly, Darren goes near him and to harshly yell at him, causing Zagi to jump in shock and horror. "BUT IF YOU EVER GO NEAR MY FRIENDS TO HURT THEM AGAIN…" Darren then coldly whispers into Zagi's ear in a quiet but darker and almost demonic tone from before which managed to scare Zagi a lot more than his previous voice. **"I'll follow you down to the ends of the Earth to personally deal with you myself".**

"Yes, Yes, Yes! Anything! Of course! I'll never do it again!" Zagi replied in a fearful tone. He turns to his fallen men, a few who just recently regained consciousness. "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Darren, Yuri, Flynn, Estelle, Rita and Judith watch Zagi jolt away from the scene in incredible speed as if the Prince of Demons himself was at his heels. His men then groan as they slowly stagger to their feet and try to follow after their leader.

"I got to admit." Rita said, scratching her head. "That was pretty cool of you guys."

Darren walked over to the others and asked all of them. "Are you guys all alright?". Yuri, Estelle, Judith, Rita and Flynn nod their heads in response.

"Thanks to you, we are fine now." Estelle said.

"Yes but what about you? You just took a pummelling and a kick to the stomach." Flynn asked referring to Darren's bruised cheek.

"Well…I've had worse days let's just say that" Darren chuckled leaving Flynn puzzled

"Darren, how are you such a great fighter?" Yuri asked with his eyes wide in amazement.

Darren sighs and said to Yuri as he pulls down the collar of his shirt, revealing a part of a dragon tattoo embedded on his chest, "You are not the only former bad boy in this school." Yuri and the others gasp. "Also you and Flynn are pretty good yourselves. What's your trick?" Darren added.

"Yeah thanks Darren. Well just gotta say that before Flynn and I went our separate ways before coming here to this school, we were quite the troublemakers ourselves back in the day" Yuri replied as he playfully put his arm around Flynn's shoulder to pull him in to a light headlock. "Also I think that Zagi may have taught me a bit too much in terms of fighting…" Yuri added with a smirk.

"Ah! Yuri! I just got a beating! Not too rough! That hurt! But that does answer my question from before" Flynn added.

"Darren…" Judith said and Darren turns to her. She smiles and bows her head in gratitude, "Thank you for helping us."

"Yeah…if it weren't for you," Flynn places his hand on Yuri's shoulder and smiles. "Yuri would be a battered punching bag right now."

Darren smiles at Judith and Flynn. "Anything for my friends. Also I have to thank Yuri as well because if it wasn't for him, I may have gotten beaten up by those large guys myself. I have to say that young man has quite a strong punch. Maybe he can be the one to rescue me if in the worst case scenario this were to happen again". Darren exclaimed with a chuckle. He then turns to Yuri.

"Yuri, you don't have to worry anymore. I'll make sure Zagi and his men will never come near you again."

"Thanks, Darren." Yuri said, extending out a hand. Darren nods his head and shakes his hand.

"Oh and I did hear what you said to Flynn and Judith. I'll consider being your bodyguard if you want. After all the Student Council people are very important after all" Yuri added in a joking manner

Darren went red from embarrassment and replied "Umm, ahh thanks Yuri...". He then turned to Judith and Flynn and whispered "Damn he wasn't meant to hear that…"

Judith giggled to herself upon seeing Darren's flustered face from Yuri's remark while Flynn simply laughed and said. "Well welcome to my world of having a friend named Yuri Lowell.

"Now then, to be serious" Yuri turned to his friends. "I got some unfinished business back home."

* * *

Yuri's mother frowned as she watches the sun set from the sky through the window. Where could have her son gone to for the past four hours? She feels very worried. First her son is in a depressed state for days and now he's suddenly gone. What is going to happen next?

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and she gasps. She gets up from the couch and walks over to the door. She opens it and widens her eyes, seeing Yuri, Estelle, Rita, Judith, Flynn and Darren standing at the doorway.

"Hey mom." Yuri said with a bright smile on his face. His mother looks surprised to see her son smiling again. She lets out a sigh of relief and chuckled.

"Welcome home Yuri." She said to Yuri and the two embrace. Estelle, Rita, Judith, Flynn and Darren all smile as they watched.

Both Yuri and his mother then pull back from the hug and he said, "Mom…I'm sorry for making you worry for the past few days."

His mother sighs again. "Yuri…it's okay. I just…I just don't like seeing you acting so coldly again like the days after your father left us."

Yuri nods his head sadly. Darren walks up and said to his mother, "Mrs Lowell, I'm the school president for Vesperia High and maybe this will make you feel better. Your son Yuri Lowell… is one of the best and well-behaved students I've seen lately in our school and he's also a very lucky person to have such great friends and a great mother. You're lucky too, to have a son like him."

His mother smiles at Darren. "Thank you." She turns back at Yuri and simply smiles at him as she strokes her son's hair.

"Well, I guess that's a happy ending!" Rita chuckled

"And starting tomorrow," Estelle smirks as she places her fists at the sides of her hips. "We got a lot of rehearsing to do!"

"Also one more thing I would like to do first" Yuri exclaimed. He turns to his friend and sticks his hand out, palm facing downwards. "Let's put our hands in for the success and moments we shared of this time we have spent together and for the best of luck for the competition regardless of our results, okay?"

"Yes, for Vesperia High!" Estelle cheerfully exclaims

"For the relations we built between each other since the start of the band" Judith added

"Let's win this competition for our school" Rita chuckled

"For the success of Vesperia High's band!" Flynn announced

"As the school president, I wish the band of Vesperia High the best of luck" Darren added.

The band members and student council members all put their hands together on top of Yuri's and all said in unison:

"For Vesperia High!"

Yuri's mother, now seeing her son truly happy for the first time in years simply smiled at the new friends and bonds he has made over the past half-year.

 **END OF CHAPTER**


End file.
